The Pastime in the Seventies: Oral Histories of 16 Major Leaguers

by Bill Ballew

The 1970s represent one of the most turbulent times in baseball's history. This decade of disco was for baseball fans the decade of divisions and DH's. The major leagues grew by four teams in 1969, and aligned themselves into divisions for the first time. The owners added the designated hitter in 1973 to provide additional offense to a game they feared was becoming dull. Labor strife became a recurring problem during the early part of the decade, and it led to free agency. Herein are interviews with 16 players who played during the turbulent 1970s. John Montefusco, Fred Lynn, Ron Cey, Vida Blue, Jerry Koosman, Rick Wise, Jeff Burroughs, Butch Wynegar, Fred Patek, Darrell Evans, Bob Boone, Buddy Bell, Don Gullett, Tommy John, Don Money, and Al Oliver tell how baseball really was in the 70s. Each interview is preceded by a short profile of the player and noteworthy statistics, transactions and accomplishments.

201 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Steve P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who knew there were oral histories about MLB players from the 1970's. I picked up about three nuggets in this one, but that's about it. Interviews were far too formulaic and MLB players are generally dull and uninteresting characters. John "The Count" Montefusco was the best of the 16 accounts.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, sporadically.

I learned a lot about baseball players that I only knew from cards.